


I Can't Handle Change

by denkiisbestboyo



Series: Downhill (Dream SMP/Sleepy Bois Inc.) [2]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: 2020 L'Manberg Election on Dream Team SMP (Video Blogging RPF), Dadza and his sons, Gen, L'Manberg War of Independence on Dream Team SMP (Video Blogging RPF), Manberg-Pogtopia War on Dream Team SMP (Video Blogging RPF), sleepy bois inc - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:27:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27747469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/denkiisbestboyo/pseuds/denkiisbestboyo
Summary: Techno’s smile widens and he reaches up, taking the crown off his head and plopping it on Tommy’s. It’s too big and falls over his eyes a little, but Tommy holds it on his head and smiles, breathless, because for a second it’s easy to believe that he’s the one who won the championship and that Phil, Wilbur and Technoblade are all here for him.It’s nice to imagine that his father and his brothers are proud of him.
Relationships: Dave | Technoblade & TommyInnit, Dave | Technoblade & Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Tommyinnit & Wilbur Soot
Series: Downhill (Dream SMP/Sleepy Bois Inc.) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2029396
Comments: 13
Kudos: 364





	I Can't Handle Change

**Author's Note:**

> i just can't stop writing sleepy bois angst im sorry

The championship arena is the biggest building Tommy has ever been in at eleven years old, and he can’t stop looking at the structure around him, the sweeping arches and tall poles and totems drawing his attention like a magnet. The whole place just has this feel to it, like everything inside is important and meaningful, even the people sitting in the audience boxes like they are. 

Every now and again, Phil presses his hand to Tommy’s chest, gently settling him back in his seat. He can’t seem to stop leaning forward, peering down over the edge of the balcony and down into the sandy pit. He’s looking for his brothers. 

Tommy hasn’t seen them since Technoblade moved out (three months ago) and already, the house is quieter and colder without them. Tommy no longer wakes to the sound of gentle guitar coming from the other room, or finds Techno’s war books and adventure stories scattered around the house. There are only two pairs of boots that sit on the front steps now and it doesn’t look right to Tommy.

Tommy glances at the large clock hung above the arena again. Only a few more minutes until the start-

One of the gates opens and the contestants start pouring in. Tommy leans forward again, and Phil doesn’t stop him this time because he’s doing it too. They’re scanning the young men and women together, looking for familiar faces. 

It’s Tommy who spots Wilbur first. He grabs onto Phil’s sleeve and points. “There’s Wilby!”

Wilbur is standing in the second ring of contestants, near the front. His standing in the upcoming games is good enough, but mediocre in the larger scheme of things. Still, he stands tall and proud, waving up at the audience, dressed in his finest armor, the metal glinting in the sun. Even holding a deadly weapon, Tommy can’t help but smile at his oldest brother. 

It’s only when all the contestants enter the ring that they see Technoblade. He’s in the middle of the first ring of contestants, with the best of the best. Technoblade, though younger than Wilbur, has always been more talented when it came to the arena, his superior strategic mind and fine motor skills earning him a top spot every time. He looks like a king in the center there, his long pink hair plaited neatly, the braid hanging off him like his cape, and a crown on his head glinting in the sun. Tommy stands up and waves at both of his brothers until Phil pulls back down into his seat. 

“You’re going to get yelled at by the people behind us.” Phil says. 

“Sorry.” Tommy’s bouncing in his seat almost, excited for the games. He wants his brothers to win. 

An announcer introduces every contestant, and Tommy cheers extra loud when he calls Wilbur and Technoblade’s names. The man to beat today is a young guy named Dream. Tommy can’t see his face because he wears a large flat mask, a smile painted on the surface. It’s both endearing and unsettling. 

Phil presses a hand to Tommy’s chest and eases him back into his seat. “They should put seatbelts on these things…” He grumbles, ruffling Tommy’s hair. “Keep doing that, and you’re going to fall in, kid.”

Tommy puffs up his chest. “I bet I could beat some of them.”

“I don’t doubt it.” Phil says, settling into his seat and draping an arm over his son’s shoulder to keep him in place. “With how you’ve been training with Techno, you could probably knock out the whole third ring.”

Tommy imagines himself down there, standing tall with Wilbur and Technoblade, dressed in his armor and a sword in hand. They would be an unstoppable force, winning every challenge and game, and the crowds would cheer for them. Phil would be so proud…

He snaps out of the daydream when the first game is announced. It’s a parkour race, using strategically placed blocks around the arena. The contenders will be climbing right in front of them, and above their heads. 

A firework goes off with a loud pop, and the arena breaks out into chaos, people sprinting for the first steps, some of them already drawing their weapons to knock others out. In the midst of it all, Tommy keeps an eye on Technoblade, noticeable both by how people avoid him and the long red cape flowing behind him. He’s one of the first to start the parkour, and has his sword in hand, knocking people out of the air as he jumps. 

A ways behind him, Wilbur swings off a pole and onto the parkour course, leaping from platform to platform in the middle of the pack. 

The course is confusing, and Tommy has a hard time keeping track of both of his brothers from down in the stands, but at the end of the round, almost the entirety of the third ring has been knocked out, and a fair portion of the second. Wilbur has clung onto his spot though, and Technoblade is in second place on the leaderboard, only beaten by the fabled Dream.

The championship progresses with a challenge that tests contenders aim, and then another race, this time to collect items. The contestants are give Elytra and swoop around the arena, slicing through the air with their swords for one game, and asked to fight off hordes of undead creatures for another. By the final round, Wilbur is eliminated (knocked out by another contender in the flying game) but Technoblade holds on until it’s only him and Dream left.

The final round is a one on one battle, and the winner is the champion.

“Do you think Techno can do it?” Tommy turns to Phil. His father’s face is drawn and pensive, but there’s no concern in his eyes. 

“If he plays his cards right.” Phil says. “This Dream character is good, but a lot of his performance has been luck.”

Tommy focuses his eyes back on the arena as Techno and Dream take their places at opposite ends of the arena, weapons drawn.

A firework is shot off and then they’re rushing at each other, swords clashing. Techno’s cape and braid leave a trail behind him as he gracefully cuts through the air. Wilbur always teases him, saying he has a flair for the dramatic, but in the moment Tommy understands why Techno wears what he does. Dream might be in the number one spot, but all eyes are on Technoblade. 

It’s a long fight, and a couple of times it looks like Dream might win, but in the end, Technoblade pulls it off, and the crowd goes wild. 

Tommy leaps up from his seat with a shout and throws a fist into the air, the other hand cupping around his mouth as he crows in victory. Phil hefts him up onto his shoulders and Tommy clings on for dear life as they’re swept down to the arena floor with the rest of the crowd, pushing their way through to the middle to congratulate Techno. 

A hand catches on Tommy’s pant leg and he looks down, seeing Wilbur grinning up at him, sweaty and bruised, but happy. Phil sets him down only for Wilbur to pick him up, and he’s taller than ever now.

He spots Technoblade and tugs on a lock of Wilbur’s hair, shouting, “There, he’s over there!”. He points at Techno and Phil leads the way, maneuvering through the throng of people until they’re standing in front of Techno.

Phil wraps him up in a hug and Techno smiles, his fangs popping out from his bottom lip. Wilbur claps him on the shoulder and Tommy reaches down as well, laughing and smiling and saying, “You were amazing! Incredible!”, over and over again because it was true and Techno should know.

Techno’s smile widens and he reaches up, taking the crown off his head and plopping it on Tommy’s. It’s too big and falls over his eyes a little, but Tommy holds it on his head and smiles, breathless, because for a second it’s easy to believe that he’s the one who won the championship and that Phil, Wilbur and Technoblade are all here for him.

It’s nice to imagine that his father and his brothers are proud of him.

* * *

Tommy sees Dream again, years later, after they’ve tried to kill each other. The mask he wears has lost it’s endearing side, and now only strikes panic in Tommy’s heart. He wishes Technoblade was here, and that he could just fight Dream off again like he did in the championships all those years ago. 

They’re not kids anymore though, and there’s a nation on the line.

Dream meets him in a secluded part of the forest. The walls of L’Manberg are still within sight, and Tommy can still taste the smoke from the explosions in the air. It’s either becoming more bearable, or he’s becoming used to it.

Tommy turns over the discs in his pocket, memorizing the feel of the hard vinyl in his fingers. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to go through with it, but looking at Dream in front of him, staring into the dead eyes of his mask, he knows he will. It’s the right thing to do. 

His brothers would be proud of him.

“What did you want Tommy?” Dream asks. He still has one hand on his axe, even though Tommy didn’t even bring a weapon. 

“I have the discs.” Tommy says, the words catching slightly on the lump in his throat. The memory of Wilbur’s shout when Eret betrayed them fuels him and spurs him to take one of the discs out of his pocket, the vinyl glinting in the moonlight.

Dream says nothing for a moment, but then, “And?”

“And…” Tommy pauses, rolls the words over in his mouth, comes to terms with the implications in his mind before he says them aloud. “I’m willing to trade. For L’manberg.”

_ For Wilbur _ goes unspoken.

They negotiate the terms and then Dream takes the disc from Tommy’s fingers and it’s no longer his. For a moment, he wants to take it all back, to let L’Manberg go and keep what’s rightfully his, but he holds his tongue and lets Dream walk away. 

He can get the disc back. If L’Manberg falls through now, Wilbur will never get it back.

He waits until Dream’s shadow has disappeared and he can’t hear his footsteps before he starts back to where he knows his friends are waiting. The forest is quiet, all the creatures (good and bad) long fled from the explosions that had shook the ground and sent plumes of smoke up into the air. The land is quiet now, and lets Tommy think. 

The remaining disc is heavy in his pocket without it’s partner. He keeps telling himself he can get it back, but how? Dream is more powerful that he is, and the ruler of this land. 

Not all of it anymore though…

He did the right thing. He’ll get back there and see that he did the right thing.

The walls of L’Manberg loom in front of him, and he finds a break, where the explosions knocked down the stone. Tommy steps through the rubble and meanders through the grounds until he comes upon the van. Inside, he can hear hushed voices. 

He takes a moment to breathe, and then steps in the door. 

As soon as the door opens all eyes snap to him. Wilbur is in the center of the room, with Tubbo on his right and Fundy on the left. They look worn down and tired, and Tommy’s sure he does too, but he keeps his head up because they’ve just won this. 

“What did you say to him?” Tubbo asks. 

“We have our freedom.” Tommy said. 

Disbelief and confusion. Both Fundy and Tubbo look to Wilbur, but Wilbur is looking at Tommy, confusion scrawled plain over his face. He only says one word. “How?”

Tommy takes out his remaining disc and lays it on the table. Looking at it alone, his heart sinks, so he changes pace and looks at Wilbur’s face as he realizes that it’s missing its partner. Wilbur puts two and two together and steps forward, wrapping Tommy up in a hug. 

“Thank you Tommy.” Wilbur says. “You did the right thing.”

Tommy wraps his arms around his brother’s shoulders and pushes his face into the crook of Wilbur’s neck. They take a moment before Wilbur speaks again. 

“I’m proud of you.”

And it’s okay.

* * *

It already hurts that they lost. When Wilbur gave Schlatt the podium and came down to sit in the audience with the rest of them, Tommy could see the pain written clear on his face. They’d almost lost L’Manberg once, and now they were losing it for real.

By choice of the people.

Schlatt’s voice echoed out over the gathered crowd as Tommy made room for Wilbur, sliding his hand into his and lacing their fingers together. Wilbur looked up at him, and Tommy squeezed. It would be okay. 

He could see Wilbur’s mind racing as Schlatt gave his speech. Wilbur stared at his feet, his hand limp in Tommy’s, Schlatt’s words going in one ear and out the other. Tommy doesn’t know how to comfort him. 

“...revoke the citizenship of Wilbur Soot…” 

Wilbur’s head snaps up at that and he rises from his seat, his eyes wide in disbelief. 

“Wil…” Tommy says, rising with him. “He wouldn’t-”

“...and TommyInnit!”

And then suddenly they’re running, a horde of armed guards at their backs, driving them out of the country. The walls flash by and then they’re sprinting towards the woods, getting lost in the trees. Branches snatch at Tommy’s hair and weeds slice his ankles, but they keep going until they reach a ravine and they can’t run anymore. 

Wilbur drops to the ground and weeps.

Tommy’s knees give out and he crawls over to his brother. They’re still wearing their revolutionary jackets. Wilbur is heaving like he’s going to vomit, and Tommy rests a hand on his back, rubbing. 

“Wil… Wilbur.”

Wilbur peers up at Tommy. His eyes are bloodshot and puffy and tears roll down his cheeks with abandon. “Tommy we lost.”

It hits Tommy fully then. L’Manberg is behind them, and they can’t go back as long as Schlatt is in charge. Tubbo and Fundy and Niki are still there, and there’s no telling what Schlatt will do now that Wilbur isn’t there to protect them. 

They can’t take L’Manberg back on their own, and they can’t ask for help. They fought against Dream and took part of his land as their own, he will do nothing for them. Most of the others that aren’t allied with L’Manberg are loyal to Dream as well, and wouldn’t dare go against him. Schlatt might as well have been impenetrable. 

Tommy rips through his pockets until he finds a loose piece of paper he’d tucked away before and a pen almost out of ink. He keeps the letter short, hopes it expresses urgency and tosses it to the wind.

It’s a good thing he knows someone who specializes in beating the odds.

* * *

They turn the ravine into a home. Tommy spends hours gathering supplies, chipping away at the stone walls to make pathways, digging into the ground to make rooms, building and carving and polishing until it’s liveable. In any other circumstances, he would hate the work, but now, it keeps his hands busy and his mind off L’Manberg-

Manberg, now, since Schlatt changed the name. 

It’s when he’s not working on something that his mind drifts back to the revolution, his disc in Dream’s hands, and then how the people voted Wilbur out of office. How much they’ve lost. How impossible it seems to get it all back.

Tommy forces himself to believe that they can get it back. Wilbur took the loss hard, and he’s been different ever since they lost the election. Tommy forces himself to be positive, and keeps spirits high. He recruits Tubbo as a spy and helps him dig a tunnel all the way to Manberg, hoping that it’ll cheer Wilbur up and give him some hope. 

Wilbur just sinks deeper into himself, plotting and scheming and obsessing over L’Manberg. Tommy knows Wilbur’s lost more than he has - he lost a son, and the work of his life when Schlatt took office, while Tommy really only lost a disc. 

Tommy also knows that if Wilbur doesn’t snap out of it soon, he might never go back to normal.

So when Technoblade arrives with Tommy’s crumpled cry for help in his hand, Tommy is relieved. 

He runs up to his brother and crushes him in a hug, pressing his face into Technoblade’s shirt and breathing in his familiar scent. He smells like cinnamon and sandalwood - like home. “Thank god you’re here.”

“Hi Tommy.” Techno says, running his fingers through Tommy’s hair. 

Tommy pulls away and turns around, expecting to see Wilbur ready to take his place, but he’s standing a bit back, hovering near the mouth of the ravine. There’s a smile playing on Wilbur’s lips though, as Technoblade walks over, and he slings an arm around Techno’s shoulder, so Tommy figures that nothing is more amiss with Wilbur than it has been.

Tommy follows them back into Pogtopia, watching as Wilbur talks excitedly to Techno about something or other.

Things will be okay now, or so he hopes. 

Technoblade will make things better.

* * *

Technoblade is the best thing to ever happen to their revolution effort. He comes in like a god, shoring up their plans and preparing the supplies and gear they need to pull it off. He gathers enough high level weapons and armor to outfit all of their allies, and he leads the charge into Manberg with a mighty cry, his cape flowing in the wind. 

Tommy whoops, and plunges into the throng after his brother, head held high. They can do this. They’ll get L’Manberg back, and the old Wilbur with it too.

The battle is long. Fighting Dream and Schlatt is not easy, especially when they still have a loyal force on their side. Tommy is willing to play dirty though, because much more than just a piece of land is on the line here. Fighting side by side with his family and friends, Tommy knows that if they lose now, everything is at stake. There won’t be another chance to run, to hide, to call for help and gather their forces. This is it, one way or another. 

He watches Fundy bare his teeth and meet his enemy’s sword with his own. Tubbo and Niki - though less experienced than the rest of the force - make a formidable team when paired together. Quackity calls for Schlatt through the chaos; daring him to step forward and face him like a man. Technoblade stares Dream down - this is no longer a friendly competition in the arena. 

Tommy charges on. He slashes and kicks and jumps and shoots and roars until the smoke settles and Schlatt is dead and Dream surrendered. It’s then that Wilbur lays a hand on his shoulder and hands him the battered cap off his head.

Tommy thumbs the hat, looking up at his brother with confusion. “Wil-”

“Tommy, I know I said that you would never be the president.” Wilbur says. “But I think it’s time.”

Wilbur leads him up to the podium - the same podium they lost the election at, miraculously survived through all the explosions and damage, and Tommy looks out over their friends and enemies, all in one space. 

As the president.

He’s about to speak when Dream’s mask catches in the edge of his vision, and the memory of vinyl under his fingertips surges fresh… he can’t take this. Not when there’s still vengeance on his tongue. 

Wilbur smiles sadly when Tommy hands the presidency back to him. He claps him on the shoulder and tells him, “I’m proud of you for making the right decision.”

Tommy’s heart swells. 

In the end, Tubbo is president, and everyone is cheering as he gives a rousing speech. The sun is high in the sky, and friends and enemies are standing together, side by side. Dream is saying something to Technoblade, and even Eret is here, hanging on the edges of the crowd.

Fundy sidles up next to Tommy, his hands in his pockets and his tail wagging happily. “We did it.” He says. 

“It was meant to be after all.” Tommy grins. He’s about to say something else when someone shouts and Tommy turns around.

Technoblade is holding a Wither skull in one hand and his sword in another, and he’s agitated. 

“Do you really think Schlatt was the source of your problems?” He sounds like he’s preaching, but he’s wild about it, and it reminds Tommy of the way Wilbur would speak about burning L’Manberg to the ground. Something is terribly wrong, because Dream looks far too pleased with himself.

“You’re replacing one tyrant with another!” Technoblade says, casting the skull to the ground. Tommy sees it too late - the bodies made of soul sand, already prepared. “Power corrupts!”

Tommy starts toward Technoblade and misses the smoke pouring out from behind the podium - he tastes the ash in the air before the explosion ripples through him, tossing him aside like a leaf in the wind. 

Laying on the ground, for a moment, all he can see is a smoky gray sky. There’s a ringing in his ears as he heaves himself to his feet and he blinks a few times before the world is fully colored again. 

His ears pop and suddenly there’s screaming - both otherworldly and human. Tommy’s head snaps up to see eight of the monsters already beginning to wreak havoc on the city and Technoblade wading through the crowd, killing anyone who gets in his way. 

This is the first time Tommy sees his brother how others see him - a murderous god, every swipe of his sword cold and calculating, head held his and cape dragging along in the ash behind him. 

His knees wobble when he stands, partially from the blast, but also because there’s a crater in the ground now, and standing above it is Wilbur, and somehow, Phil.

Tommy watches his father drive a sword through his brother’s middle, and he watches Wilbur slump to the ground. 

Phil’s eyes skim right over Tommy as he joins the battle below, searching for Technoblade. 

Tommy falls to his knees and thinks back to the last thing Wilbur had said to him-

“I’m proud of you for making the right decision.”

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on wattpad @lillianna1125 and on tumblr @simpforthebloodgod


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